Print job cost estimate method and system

Abstract

Automatically determining the cost of a printed job on a digital printing press before the job is run. A job control component in the digital front end of the printing press, collects and stores the processing information from the job processing components from prior runs. A job-reporting component displays the stored and estimated processing information and automatically computes and displays the estimated cost of the job. The method includes determining a future toner cost using a toner cost, a future press usage cost, and a substrate cost based on historical toner consumption and then rasterizing the job to determine the total job cost.

1 . A method of automated cost determination for a print job using computer accessible memory (CAM), said method comprising: 
 a.) determining a future toner cost using a toner cost coefficient (TCC) based on historical toner consumption and storing it in the system;    b.) determining a future press usage cost using a press wear coefficient (PWC) based on historical operator replaceable component (ORC) stored values and storing it in the system;    c.) rasterizing the print job to determine a future surface count to be printed for the print job;    d.) determining a substrate cost based on the surface count and a substrate cost coefficient (SCC) based on stored substrate costs; and    e.) determining a total job cost by adding the future toner cost to the substrate cost and tracked and stored data.    
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising a single-action selection component that in response to performance of only a single action, sends a request to the CAM to select from stored data including one or more of SCC, TCC, and PWC, the request including an identifier so that the CAM can access the stored data to complete the determination of the total job cost.  
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1 , the step of determining the future toner cost further comprising: 
 a.) determining a volume-weighted toner cost constant per job mass value (gjmK) determined by dividing a total actual toner weight used over a desired time period by a total calculated toner mass usage value (jtcTotal) using historical toner consumption stored values;    b.) determining the toner cost coefficient (TCC) by multiplying the volume-weighted toner cost constant per job mass value (gjmK) by a historical toner cost per weight stored value from historical stored values; and    c.) determining the future toner cost for the job by multiplying the TCC by a toner mass consumption (JTU) value such that total toner cost=[JTU*TCC].    
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 3 , the step of determining the toner cost further comprising determining a media independent TCC by dividing the total grams of toner consumed by the toner laydown mass using historical toner mass and ink replacement machine-specific stored values from a set historical time period (t 2 -t 1 ) for each color channel (CMYK).  
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 3  further comprising calculating the (JTU*TCC) value for each channel and summing up the (JTU*TCC) values for all the channels.  
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 3 , the step of determining the JTU using a surface toner consumption calculated by rasterizing the job using a reduced dpi that is lower then a press dpi.  
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 6 , the step of determining the toner cost further comprising using a ratio of press dpi to reduced dpi to adjust surface toner consumption when determining the job.  
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 3 , the step of determining the toner cost further comprising determining the total toner cost by summing individual color channel toner costs for CMYK As follows:  
     
       
         
               
               
             
                   
                   
               
                   
                   
               
                   
                 Cost Cyan  = JTU Cyan  * TCC Cyan   
               
                   
                 Cost Magenta  = JTU Magenta  * TCC Magenta   
               
                   
                 Cost Yellow  = JTU Yellow  * TCC Yellow   
               
                   
                 Cost Black  = JTU Black  * TCC Black   
               
                   
                 Toner Cost = Cost Black  + Cost Cyan  + Cost Magenta  + Cost Yellow   
               
                   
                   
               
                   
                   
               
           
              
              
             
             
              
              
              
              
              
              
              
             
          
         
       
     
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 3 , the step of determining the total toner cost by summing the individual toner costs (TCC*JTU) further comprising summing a toner mass consumed values for all surfaces.  
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 1 , the step of determining the press usage cost further comprising calculating a total press wear cost by determining a media independent historical press wear value using historical press wear machine-specific stored values from a set historical time period (t 2 -t 1 ) and summing these up for the time period.  
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 10 , the step of determining the press usage cost further comprising using different sets of automatically generated press cost coefficients from multiple printers.  
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 10 , the step of determining the press usage cost further comprising using ORC replacement data and ORC average life information to calculate PWC.  
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 1 , the step of determining the toner cost further comprising recalculating the total toner costs whenever there is one of an internal and/or external change based on a predetermined list of internal and external change factors.  
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 13 , the internal factors include component replacement, manufacturer change, and component wear and the external changes include humidity, temperature, operator, and location.  
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 1 , the step of determining the toner cost using a toner cost coefficient based on historical toner consumption further comprising generating an empirical relationship between post-screen toner density data and toner mass consumption.  
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising generating an empirical non-linear relationship between post-screen toner density data and toner mass consumption.  
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising using the empirically derived relationship when creating press toner cost coefficients when there is no post screened data available.  
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising using the empirically derived relationship for converting toner pixel density to toner mass.  
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising using the empirically derived relationship to calculate relative toner consumption from the actual toner mass empirical data.  
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising using the toner replacement information to map the calculated toner mass to actual toner consumption.  
   
   
       21 . The method of  claim 1 , the step of determining the toner cost further comprising recalculating the total toner costs on a periodic basis.  
   
   
       22 . The method of  claim 12 , the step of determining the PWC further comprising recalculating the PWC on a periodic basis.  
   
   
       23 . The method of  claim 12 , the step of determining the PWC further comprising recalculating the PWC when a purchase price adjustment takes place.  
   
   
       24 . A system for automatically determining the cost to complete a job comprising: 
 a.) a computer processor having a log of tracked information related to use and service information for controlling a plurality of job costing components including determining a future toner cost using a toner cost coefficient (TCC), determining a future press usage cost using a press wear coefficient (PWC), and determining a future substrate cost based on a surface count and a substrate cost coefficient (SCC), each said job processing component being responsible for carrying out one of a plurality of steps in a job processing sequence;    b.) a storage repository to store said job costing components;    c.) the processor further automatically computing the job costing components and the total estimated future cost; and    d.) a display component for automatically displaying the job costing components and the total estimated future cost.    
   
   
       25 . The system of  claim 24 , wherein said storage repository located at a first site stores said log of information at a site remote from the first site.  
   
   
       26 . The system of  claim 24 , wherein said computer controlled job processing sequence includes at least one repetition of at least two sequential said steps in said job processing sequence.  
   
   
       27 . The system of  claim 24  further comprising an extraction mechanism to extract said log information on a periodic time interval.  
   
   
       28 . The system of  claim 24  wherein said log includes data relative to the use of toner in said printing system.  
   
   
       29 . The system of  claim 24  wherein said log includes data relative to components that have been replaced or consumed during printing.  
   
   
       30 . The system of  claim 24  wherein said log includes the number of substrates and/or type of substrate used during printing.  
   
   
       31 . The system of  claim 24  the processor further performing automatic diagnostics at time intervals and reporting the results in the log of tracked information.